The Biggest Winning and Losing Weeks In the History of the DJIA, NASDAQ and S&P 500 Were..

This past week, the Dow Jones industrial Average index traded up nearly 3% (2.8% to be exact) to close the week at 10,211.07.

This was a welcome break, considering the fact that the DJIA has basically gone straight down since mid-April.

We've done articles before on this site that detailed the biggest one-day gains/losses for the DJIA, as well as the best/worst months.

How about now we look at the biggest one-week gains and losses (in terms of %) in the history of the DJIA, NASDAQ and SP 500?

Here are the top five biggest one-week gains in the history of the DJIA (as a %):

Week of June 22nd, 1931, +18.21%
Week of August 1st, 1932, +16.16%
Week of June 20th, 1938, +14.15%
Week of July 25th, 1932, +13.0%
Week of March 15th, 1933, +12.80%

Now, the top five worst weeks for the DJIA (as a %):

Week of October 6th, 2008, -18.15%
Week of July 17th, 1933, -15.55%
Week of September 10th, 2001, -14.26%
Week of May 13th, 1940, -14.21%
Week of November 4th, 1929, -13.52%

Some of these dates should pop right out at you, as we have some pretty significant events occurring during these weeks in history.

-October 6th, 2008 was pretty much the height of the global financial meltdown
-September 10th, 2001.. I don't have to tell you what happened during this week
-May 13th, 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned
-November 4th, 1929 - the markets began to crash and the world would soon find itself in the clutches of the "Great Depression"

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Just for fun, let's look at the biggest one-week gains/losses for the NASDAQ and S&P 500 as well:

NASDAQ

Week of May 30th, 2000, +18.98%
Week of April 9th, 2001, +14.01%
Week of November 24th, 2008, +10.92%
Week of October 27th, 2008, +10.88%
Week of March 9th, 2009, +10.64%

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Week of April 10th, 2000, -25.30%
Week of October 19th, 1987, -19.15%
Week of September 10th, 2001, -15.67%
Week of October 6th, 2008, -15.30%
Week of November 6th, 2000, -12.24%

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S&P 500

Week of October 7th, 1974, +14.12%
Week of November 24th, 2008, +12.03%
Week of March 9th, 2009, +10.71%
Week of October 27th, 2008, +10.49%
Week of August 16th, 1982, +8.82%

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Week of October 6th, 2008, -18.20%
Week of October 19th, 1987, -12.20%
Week of September 10th, 2001, -11.05%
Week of April 10th, 2000, -10.54%
Week of September 29th, 2008, -9.40%